Window shades, particularly window shades for a vehicle, are known. These window shades can be operable to block sunlight entering a window of the vehicle to help control the vehicle's cabin temperature, as well as reduce UV rays entering the vehicle, and provide a better environment for the vehicle passengers by reducing brightness, glare, etc. Window shades also come in multiple forms including built in window shades which can be retractable into a housing of some sort.
Retractable window shades are typically housed within a portion of a vehicle door below the window in the door. The retractable window shade can be drawn up to extend over the window and attach to a plurality of hooks to hold the retractable window shade in place. When the retractable window shade is detached from the hooks, the retractable window shade can retract into the portion of the vehicle door below the window, typically with a spring type retraction mechanism.
Retractable window shades are often utilized in rear doors, for example, a sliding door on a passenger compartment of a minivan. However, a problem can arise when a retractable window shade is not properly attached to the hooks, for example, when a driver reaches behind to pull up the retractable window shade and attaches the retractable window shade to the hooks without ensuring that all of the hooks are properly attached. This improper attachment can result in, for example, only a front hook of the window shade being attached. The retractable window shade in the sliding door which is attached using only the front hook may become damaged when the sliding door is opened if a rear of the retractable window shade which is unsecured becomes jammed or lodged in a body portion of the vehicle when the door is opened. As such, an improved retractable window shade hook mechanism is desired to help prevent damage to the retractable window shade upon operation of the sliding door.